The doggone quote function is giving me fits, so...
Manstein's revenge stated:
One thing that I have always wondered about was how the Glowworm turned so sharply and rammed the Hipper on her starboard side when in the pics available the Glowworm is parallel w/ the Hipper when she is only a hundred or so yards away with the Hipper probably closing well over 20 knots...???
The photo is not simply of the Glowworm in flames, but of the Glowworm laying a smokescreen. According to accounts, the Hipper entered the smokescreen - at which point the Germans found that the Glowworm had come around to port in almost a full circle and at that point rammed the Hipper just to the rear of (I avoid using the term "abaft") her anchors on the starboard side. She then traveled down the length of the Hipper's starboard side, effectively tearing away around 130 feet of the cruiser's armor belt and also carrying away her (the Hipper's) starboard torpedo tubes.
As far as why it was possible for the two ships to come together so closely, the seas were extremely heavy, making accurate gunfire impossible. In fact the German officers stated that it was difficult to discern which destroyer (there were German destroyers present as well) was the one firing at her until the range had been closed considerably. The Hipper, being a much larger ship, of course was a more stable gun platform and so was able to inflict damage to the Glowworm, when the return fire was far from accurate.